These boys are the real deal.
By: Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com
Fifteen American Christian cowboys with their wide-brimmed hats, denim shirts, tight Wrangler jeans, leather belts with large buckles, and well-worn boots have come to Israel to protect the Jewish residents of the biblical heartland – Judea and Samaria.
“We want to live for Israel; that is our goal,” said 24-year-old Yosef Strain from Montanna [sic], his voice carrying a subtle twang.
The young men, mostly in their early 20s, hail from across the South: Tenessee [sic], Missouri, Texas, Arkansas, and Montana. They join other faith-driven volunteers in Israel through Hayovel. For 20 years, this organization has been bringing several hundred Christians to Israel each year to help harvest the grapes of the biblical heartland. These Evangelical Christians are usually focused on restoring Christian-Jewish relations and confirming Israel’s right to their ancestral homeland.
However, after the October 7 Hamas massacre, “we understood the morbid reality that we are facing a serious enemy and the world does not recognize it,” explained Hayovel Director of Operations Joshua Waller. “If we did not say yes [to helping Judea and Samaria], no one was.”
cont’d…